Getting in on the Ground Floor

by Josh Neuberger, Director of Marketing, UZIN UTZ North American, Inc.

UZIN UTZ North America, Inc. a subsidiary of UZIN UTZ AG (Ulm, Germany) is a vertically integrated manufacturer of flooring installation, preparation, finishing and maintenance products for all types of floorcoverings. Founded in 1911, UZIN UTZ has a global presence in over 51 countries, 1,400 employees, and features fourth-generation family leadership with Philipp and Julian Utz as members of the Executive Board. UZIN UTZ products can be found in commercial and residential buildings world-wide spanning across multiple building sectors.

In June 2021, UZIN UTZ North America Inc. broke ground at the corner of Mars Drive and Texas Central Parkway on a 125,000 square foot manufacturing, R&D, customer training, and logistics facility. The Waco facility marks the third location for the company in North America with existing manufacturing in Dover, Delaware and a distribution center in Aurora, Colorado. The expansion adds to the overall global manufacturing footprint of UZIN UTZ with facilities located in Germany, Netherlands, France, Poland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Indonesia and China.

The construction process for UZIN UTZ in Waco has been well documented on social media, live plant camera, and various local events. In fall 2021, UZIN UTZ was featured in the Greater Waco Business magazine, interviewing Director of Marketing Josh Neuberger who is an active member of the onsite project build team and local contact for the community. Now, with the project nearing completion, Neuberger is sharing UZIN UTZ’s experience of building in Waco.

Josh, wow! What a structure your company is building in Waco. How are things progressing?

Thank you! We are all very pleased with the progress and overall design of the building. The 125’ tower accented with our brand UZIN signage greets all that arrive onsite daily and has now become a new landmark for the area. While we were not immune to the delays that most businesses have experienced in the construction process over the past two years, we have worked very hard to minimize those delays and look forward to occupying our building in early January 2023.

How has the overall construction experience been with the Greater Waco community?

Support from the leadership of McLennan County, the City of Waco, the Greater Waco Chamber, and local businesses has been unbelievable. All parties have taken a sincere interest in helping our company achieve our goals. Our first indication of local support came in June 2021, when over 75 people attended our groundbreaking, and the support has continued throughout the building process. Communication through our general contractor and the city inspection office has been timely and allowed our project to progress.

It appears there are several local contracting trades working on your project, what can you say about this experience?

Our directive to the general contractor, and our business philosophy, was to use local businesses whenever possible during the build. The local community of trades has been critical to maintaining our timeline. Their (local trades) interaction with each other due to the size of the area is incredible and brings personality to the jobsite. Additionally, you get to know these businesses, their employees, and see them in your daily interactions off the jobsite within the community. If issues do present themselves, being local helps resolve any issues quickly, as opposed to relying on a business to commute in from 2-3 hours away.

Is it reassuring to know that the local businesses that have worked on your facility are just around the corner for future maintenance or potential situations down the road?

Absolutely! It is inherent that a facility of our size will need a certain level of maintenance and problem solving throughout its lifespan. In our dealings with local trade businesses, we have met many individuals who have worked for that trade business with 10, 15, 20 years, or more, of tenure. That knowledge base coupled with the personal relationships we have established will be critical to expediting any potential issues in the future.

In addition to local and regional trades, we understand that there is a global reach of trades that are working on your facility. Can you discuss that a bit more?

The Waco facility will join our global manufacturing network, producing high-quality, powder-based floor prep products such as floor leveler, floor patch, tile thin sets, or grout for tile flooring. In order to ensure that quality standards, both in our product and production efficiency, are met, there is a level of standardization of equipment in each plant. The equipment and infrastructure for manufacturing is designed and produced in Europe. Our colleagues in Germany who specialize in manufacturing have made several trips to Waco guiding the installation process and liaising with the European manufacturers of the equipment, as needed. The global collaboration, both with internal and external parties, on this project is what really sets our company apart.

How are UZIN UTZ’s employees helping to construct the plant?

We are a very hands-on company, and as part of the construction process we are self-performing the final flooring installation ourselves. Most of our sales team has previous flooring installation experience. We leaned on them for all of the preparation, installation, or finishing of the wood, epoxy, or tile flooring throughout the facility. That experience, by far, has been one of the highlights of the project. Team members from different regions who would not normally work together were given the opportunity to collaborate through this process. All of our team members have commented that it has been a great experience to be part of the construction process and literally help build our company’s future. This small part of the project provides a snapshot of the dedication and commitment that our people have to the company.

As you near the end of the construction phase of your facility your focus will then shift to staffing. Can you elaborate on any experiences that you have had thus far?

The community has really responded with resources on staffing options for the variety of positions we will be seeking. We are confident that we will be able to fill our positions needed with quality individuals both with local advertising and the various resources within the community. Earlier in 2022, we attended a career fair at Baylor University in search of filling a few lab positions and were very impressed with the quality of applicants. Shortage of staffing is always a concern these days but with the help of local leadership and local resources we are confident that our positions can be filled quickly.

Any final thoughts or comments?

Thank you! Thank you to the community for welcoming UZIN UTZ to McLennan County and the Waco community. The connections that have taken place on a local level will enable our company to continue to grow long term. When the training center in our facility becomes active, we look forward to bringing the professional flooring trade to the area and giving them a glimpse of the local community and the people that make this place special. Thank you again to all, we look forward to being good corporate citizens of the area.